BWW Recap: Turkey on Turkey on Turkey on a MODERN FAMILY Thanksgiving

It's the MODFAM THANKSGIVING episode, and, as expected, there's a whole lot of turkeys present this week (three to be exact). Luckily, this episode wasn't one of them. :-) As I said on Halloween, generally, holiday episodes that continuously repeat holidays well into their run (like, six seasons in) may grow stale, as the holiday doesn't change and in a show's sixth season, creators may find less original storylines that haven't already been used up, say, last Thanksgiving. But, not the case with MODERN FAMILY, who, in their - give or take - sixth seasonal outing, gives us an original - and hilarious - storyline, that, again, was anything but a turkey. The episode provided a nice balance of Thanksgiving-centered stories and mixed them in with stories that didn't have to do with the holiday, but still seamlessly bled into those storylines - that's why the writing on this show is sooooo genius! (Okay... anyone have a count on how many times I've said that?!)

Claire let Phil take over THANKSGIVING dinner duties (and he's got help from sous-chef Luke). What could go wrong? Nothing yet, but in case something does, Claire's got a backup turkey roasting in a pot in the basement. (Soo Claire!) This plot was entertaining, especially when it was blended with the others. However, I will say I was disappointed at how quickly the Claire/Alex plot took a turn. When it was first introduced, I thought theirs would be more of a plot line where they take both on the crazy, inane personalities of Phil and Luke, which would have been SOOOO refreshing to see - can you imagine stuffy, put-together Claire unleashing her inner Phil?! Sad that that plot sort of deflated when the real Phil shot off the Newzooka (although, really, what could we have expected from Phil?). Hope it comes back soon. That said, I thought Phil being seduced by the Nigella Lawson app was a nice, fresh take on THANKSGIVING cooking (although not so much "new Phil" - now he's just "got Nigella" instead of Gloria).

Speaking of being out of your comfort zone... let's talk Haley and Manny. But honestly, they were pretty funny. I don't actually think that this pairing has really been explored, and it's clever (albeit a bit creepy in reality, but clever in the writing) to revisit the "I'd-date-you-if-you-weren't-my-cousin-but-you're-not-technically-my-cousin" idea now that Manny's a little older. And yeah, the gags were all little ehh, but seriously, cousin crush notwithstanding, this pairing - Hyland and Rodriguez - really works. Like well. They, like, really really work well together. Would love to see some more of this combination as we head into the second part of the season. Just unsure how to do it and not make it awkward after the handsy/panties/kissing incidents.

Mitch is trying to get Cam to be less of a "pushover parent" and lay down the law, so Mitch doesn't have to be considered "screamin' demon." Funny, but I don't think this plot line was used to its full potential. I feel like it wasn't as fleshed out as the others (see above and below), and the lines between Mitch, Cam and Lily at the climax were literally cut off by Gloria, in order to introduce her into the mix and advance her (and Jay's) plotline. Additionally, to go back onto my missed-opportunity plot points soapbox, it would have been nice to have seen Jay and Gloria confront Mitch and Cam about what they heard the men say while they were walking in Jay and Gloria's closet, and it would have been a way to bridge the two plot lines together - as was so brilliantly demonstrated in an episode like Season 1's "Family Portrait." The way it was going I thought that's where it would end up - Gloria says, "If those mean girls have something to say to me, they should say it to my face"; unfortunately, when Jay says, "One problem at a time," he literally means one problem at a time - i. e. "We've got another issue; we're not coming back to this one this week."

Speaking of Jay and Gloria plan a trip to Colombia, but when it gets cancelled, they opt out of the family THANKSGIVING in favor of a staycation. (And not a steak-cation). When the family THANKSGIVING gets moved to their house - with them in it, on their staycation - it sends them on a madcap adventure throughout the house, as they devise plan after plan on how to stay away from the family. This I really enjoyed, mainly because of the fast-paced screwball element of it all - and how one element built on top of the other (the dinner being moved, Mitch and Cam coming up into the room, forgetting Joe, taking the wrong turkey out of the oven, etc). Really well-written and wonderfully executed by Vergara and O'Neill. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving, and hope you get good bonding time with your Modern Family! See you all in two weeks!

SOME FAVORITE QUOTES

- Phil: (re: Nigella Lawson app) I listened to her meringue instructions in the car last week. There was so much whipping and beating I had to pull over.

- Mitch: (re: Lily, in the dress) Right now, our child's walking around like a Vietnamese Annie Hall.

- Jay: (re: hiding from the family) God knows, I couldn't love 'em more, but the Kennedys didn't get together as much as this family.

- Nigella Lawson App: Are your onions in hot water, Philip?

Phil: Yes, I would say they are!

- Cam: (re: Gloria's closet) If I had this closet, I never would have come out.

- Jay: I gotta get this little guy up to bed because that plane ride really knocked him out.

(He slams "Joe" against the banister).

Jay: He's fine, see? Not crying.

Claire: That's not necessarily a good thing.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS

- Nice that Luke's birthday, which occasional

ly falls on THANKSGIVING (guess this year it does... hmm... cause THANKSGIVING does not fall on the same DAY every year?!), is acknowledged. Good to see that continuity, even if the episode doesn't explicitly focus, as Season 1's "Fizbo" did, on the fact that it's his birthday.

- AMAZING that Hyland's lighter hair was actually explained and written into the show for Haley! "It washes me out, right? Do other people feel this way?!" A+!

Photo Credit: Twitter / ABC